Sorry for the long gap in between updates, but working full time is taking its toll on us. We get up at 6:20 AM and have a pretty full day of classes, and we arn’t back until 5:30. By the time we get home we just like to sit back, relax and eat. Working with 3 and 4 year olds takes a lot of energy! Don’t get us wrong, we love working with these kids. This last week we had Wai Kru. It is an annual ceremony which is done in every school, college and university in Thailand. “Wai Kru” means “pay respect to the teacher” in Thai. It is the most important event to be held for every school at the start of the new academic year. It is always held on a Thursday but it doesn’t matter which Thursday of the month. The reason that the ceremony has to be on a Thursday is because Thai’s believe that Thursday is a special day for teachers. Kids bow and pay respect and adorn you with flowers. We have some great photos we will share.
Jeff had a friend in town from UofO on Thursday night, Jessica, so we met up with her and her friends on Ko San road. It was great being around somebody from Oregon for a change! We ended up going to Sky Bar, a beautiful bar that over looks the city. It was a great time, and a great way to bring in my Birthday.
Friday the Brandon University crew left (Brit, Kristen, Kendra, Jen and Anna) we had a great time getting to know them these last 8 weeks and it sure went by fast! I can’t believe we have been here almost 2 months now! Yikes! But what a great 2 months it has been.
This last weekend was spent at Ko Samet, quickly becoming our favorite weekend getaway. I was fortunate enough to be healthy there this time and enjoy a great birthday weekend! Saturday was the highlight of hanging out on the beach all day relaxing. Followed by an amazing dinner and fire show at Ploy. Our table was literally on the beach, and we were sitting in the sand! For all 9 of us there, dinner was $60, unbelievable. Just the drinks alone back home would be more than that! The fire show was like nothing I had ever seen before. It must have been 25 minutes long with fire works, balancing acts, and huge flames. After the show they invited all the tourists to play flaming limbo! the limbo bar was literally on fire! I went through a couple times, and it was quite warm. After that the brought out a huge flaming jump rope. After a couple people went in I got up my nerves and went for it! It was a huge rush! I ended up getting burned on the neck because one of the fire dancers jumped in with me and he hit the rope, nothing serious though. If anything a cool scar. After the jump rope came the flaming hoop. This was the easiest by far, and most people jumped through, not many did the jump rope, and I can see why.
Another great weekend in the books! It was a little weird being away for my birthday, but my new friends made it awesome. Thanks for all the birthday wishes to friends and family back home, I could feel the love all the way over in Thailand. I hope all is well with everyone back home, and as always pictures to come!
Cheers,
Joey
